White Riot
by Tricia-chan
Summary: Sequal to Bittersweet. Hisoka is forced to confront his feelings and deal with yet another tape as White Days looms on the horizon.


Lucky number seven!!! Yes, I somehow managed to stave off writer's block long enough to put together my SEVENTH Yami no Matsuei fanfic and the fourth and final story in this Holiday Arc!!!! All right, let's get through all the usual jazz: I don't own the bishies or the rest of the cast, and I never will, wah. I'm borrowing them for my own benefits!!! Warnings are still the same as before: OOC-ness, stupidity, swearing, spoilers, and lemony goodness. I hope you enjoy!!!

White Riot

_March 12__th__, 6:51 p.m._

Was chocolate supposed to…boil like this? The tiny pot was full of liquid white chocolate, bubbling like a potion in a witch's cauldron.

"Dammit," grumbled Hisoka under his breath, turning the heat down and furiously stirring the boiling chocolate. He made sure to scrape the side of the pot as he did so, but the familiar smell of burning chocolate floated up to his nose. He quickly removed the pot from the heated stove. "That's it, you're done. I'm not going through this again."

'This' was referring to the other three times Hisoka had attempted to make chocolate from scratch and it came out not only ruined, but a complete mess. He had to buy another pot after the last try because the inside had burned badly and white chocolate was scorched into the surface.

It was stupid that he was even going to all this trouble, anyways. But he tried not to think about it as he fumbled for the candy molder. It was a 3-D one of a puppy, so that a dog's image would appear on both sides. He flipped the thing onto its side, opened the nozzle, and started pouring. Unfortunately, quite a bit of it leaked over the side and not _into _the mold. "Shit, shit, shit!!!"

It didn't take too long and Hisoka tried scooping the dribbling chocolate back inside the mold. When he was satisfied, he closed the nozzle and set the molder on the counter with a heavy sigh. He stank of chocolate and he was a little iffy about the flavor, but the important thing was that he was done…and he didn't burn this one.

"Now, Tsuzuki can't complain about his White Day gift."

_March 13__th__, 10:24 a.m._

"Activity on Chijou has been slow lately, but we should all be on our guard," said Tatsumi. "Especially with a holiday coming up tomorrow."

Oddly enough, silence had swept the office. None of the Shinigami added anything to the discussion, instead looking at Tatsumi plainly.

Tatsumi stared at all of them for a very long moment before he sighed heavily. "All right, say it now. You're going to anyways."

And the Shinigami obliged him.

"Can we have a White Day party???" chorused Yuma and Saya.

"No," said Tatsumi sternly.

"But why not?!" demanded Tsuzuki.

"If I need to answer that question, Tsuzuki-san, then I will be very upset. All of you know very well why I say no!!!"

"B-But it's a holiday!!!"

"And it's _White Day_!!" pointed out Yuma. "A day for us girls!!!"

"Yeah, you gave us a party on Valentines!!!" Says chirped in. "You _have _to give us one for White Day!!!"

"I don't HAVE to give you anything!!!" snapped Tatsumi. "And for that matter, I NEVER gave you _any _of the previous parties!!! I was foolish enough to authorize them all, but not this time!! You've turned every holiday so far into an excuse to party and cause property damage!!!"

"But we didn't bug you for a party on National Foundation Day (1)," Wakaba offered unhelpfully. "And it's not likely we'll be celebrating Children's Day (2) when it comes—"

"I wanna celebrate Children's Day!!" Yuma cut in cheerfully.

"You're not a kid," Terazuma pointed out dully.

"But Hisoka-chan can celebrate it, right?!"

"Don't pull ME into this!!" snapped Hisoka, feeling _very _embarrassed to be grouped in a category for Children's Day. Sure he died when he was sixteen, but he _wasn't _a child!!

"Yeah, let's have a Children's Day party too!!!" Saya suddenly said excitedly. "Pink House always put out the most adorable dresses for that holiday!!! Hisoka-chan would look _perfect _in one!!!"

Yuma nodded enthusiastically at her friend. "What a great idea!!! And the White Day dress we bought is—"

"That's ENOUGH!!!!" snapped Tatsumi, slamming a hand onto the table. "No Children's Day party and NO White Day party!!! While I favor the idea of docking everyone's pay again, I _refuse _to allow this sort of insanity to run rampant again!!!"

_Yeah, and I already owe you enough money_, Hisoka thought sourly. He was still paying for the repairs to Tatsumi's office right out of his paycheck, and he didn't favor the idea of paying more money for the idiocy of somebody else.

Of course, he knew that Tatsumi shouldn't have even argued against the party idea. He felt a shift beside him and Tsuzuki slowly rose to his feet, tears in his eyes.

And as Hisoka feared, Tatsumi had a magical change of heart ten seconds later.

"Okay, fine," he said, clearly frustrated. "You may have a White Day Party!!!"

"YAY!!!!!" cheered most of the Shinigami in the room.

"But NO Children's Day Party!!!"

This was met with mild protests, but Hisoka didn't pay any attention. He was severely annoyed by these circumstances.

_Great. I'm gonna have to give Tsuzuki that stupid chocolate puppy in front of everyone and they'll ALL be gushing about how cute it is and just kill my empathy—_

He wasn't paying attention to what was going around him, so he had no input for the current conversation.

"Not it!"

"Not it!!"

"Not iiiit!!!"

"…Not it."

"Hisoka-chan loses!!!"

"Huh?" Hisoka glanced up when he heard his name. "What is it?"

"You've been chosen to buy the office decorations for tomorrow," said Wakaba smugly.

Hisoka stared at her blankly for a long moment. "…What?!"

"Come now, I can't keep providing holiday decorations!! I have my finances to think about!!!"

"…_My_ finances aren't exactly stable at the moment and White Day's a _lot _more expensive than Valentines," said Hisoka. "So find somebody else to do this."

"Awwww, Hisoka-chan!!!" Hisoka stiffened as Yuma and Saya grabbed his arms from behind and started shaking them. "Don't ruin the celebration!!!! Go, go!!! It's almost lunchtime!!"

"Let me go!!" he yelled, his empathy from the two idiot women being in overload. He realized with dread that Tatsumi wasn't there. "All right, ALL RIGHT I'll go!!! But all of you had better fork over some cash; I'm NOT covering this on my own!!"

"YAY!!!!!" There was another bout of cheering before several yen notes were happily slapped onto the table in front of him. All of the girls pitched in cheerfully, while Terazuma reluctantly forked over a couple thousand yen. The Gushoushin brothers were incredibly reluctant, but gave some cash while mumbling "Only for Hisoka-san." Hisoka simply grabbed the wad and shoved it into a pocket; he'd count it later.

It was then that he realized that, in addition to Konoe, that Watari wasn't there. He hadn't even shown up for the usual briefing.

Before Hisoka could ponder this, he felt a hand on his arm. "Let's go, 'Soka-chan!!!"

"Eh?" Hisoka gave Tsuzuki a sideways glance. "What do you mean?"

Tsuzuki positively beamed at him. "I'm coming with you, of course!!!"

Yuma and Saya giggled like school girls. Even Wakaba couldn't resist a smile. Hisoka rolled his eyes and tried to tug his arm out of Tsuzuki's grip. "That's not necessary, I can—"

"Nope, it's too late!!! Let's go!!!" Tsuzuki pulled him to the door.

"Hold on, baka!!! I never said you could come!!! And you only want to come so you can make me buy you candy!!!!"

"This is gonna be a fuuuuuuun shopping trip!!!" Tsuzuki said very loudly, pointedly ignoring Hisoka's words. Hisoka for his part struggled a little bit and then gave up, allowing Tsuzuki to drag him out.

---

Watari fished through his filing cabinet furiously, his frustration mounting. "C'mon, there has to be _something_…"

His attempts all month to get Tsuzuki and Hisoka together had been thwarted one too many times. Both boys had been called away a few times for minor missions, which left little time for potential togetherness. And Watari wouldn't dare disrupt their job to try and save 'Operation: Seduction'.

Then there were his many attempts to get Hisoka to listen to his tapes. Unfortunately, the boy wasn't very keen on falling victim for a third time to the tapes and always stayed one step ahead of him.

'_Love and Chocolate'—crushed into oblivion. 'The Secret to Simultaneous Multiple Orgasms'—that tape was strewn up and down his street. 'The Joys of Anal Sex'—I think he actually used an ofunda on that tape—which is a real shame because I really liked that one. Thank the gods I have copies…_

But things were starting to look bleak. Sure, the pair seemed to get closer and closer as each holiday passed, but was that really any different from normal? The closest thing they got to anything was New Years, but nobody knew _what _had happened and neither seemed to remember anything.

No, that didn't work out at all.

"I just can't call it quits," he said to 003, who was perched above him on top of the filing cabinet. "Not after all this hard work…"

003 hooted at him sympathetically.

"There _must _be a way. It can't…" Suddenly, one tape out of the many others caught his eye. He grabbed it and held it up, reading the label over and over again.

A deliciously evil idea sprung into Watari's head. He held the tape up for 003 to see. "This is it!!! I just _know _this will work for us!!! By golly, this will surely have Tsuzuki and Bon in bed tomorrow night!!"

003 simply hooted at him.

_March 13__th__, 11:03 a.m._

Even though Tsuzuki forcibly inserted himself onto this shopping trip, Hisoka managed to take control and dictate which store (and ONLY store) they would be shopping in. He chose the first disgustingly cheerful department store they crossed.

"Waaaai!!!!" Tsuzuki snatched up packages of candy and oogled the various decorations hanging from displays. "Kawaii!!!! 'Soka-chan, get this!!!"

Hisoka pointedly ignored him, grabbing a shopping basket and throwing random decorations in. The office pool for the party totaled just fewer than 10,000 yen, but he felt it would be enough. He felt like revolting as he tossed in party streamers, large packages of white hearts, banners, and all the like. Even with the money though, he made sure that each item he grabbed was under 500 yen.

"'Soka-chan, 'Soka-chan!!!" Tsuzuki ran over to him like a child in a candy store, an armful of white chocolates. "Can we get these? Pretty please?!"

Hisoka walked right by him and instead grabbed a party pack full of bite-size cheap white chocolate. Tsuzuki began trailing after. "C'mon, pretty please?! This candy is very popular and looks soooooo good!!"

Hisoka glanced at the chocolate out of the corner of his eye. A two-foot white bunny was priced at 1,500 yen. "No."

"What?! Why?!" Tears filled Tsuzuki's eyes, but Hisoka was thankfully immune to these tears, unlike Tatsumi. "It's really good chocolate!!!"

"It's ridiculous to buy chocolate that's over 1,000 yen."

"But it's good—"

"Would you cut it out?!" Hisoka snapped, spinning around to face. "You're a grown man, act like it!! And what's the point in buying you chocolates NOW, anyways?! You'll be getting a truckload from the girls tomorrow anyways!!!"

"But Hisoka, that's not how White Day works—"

"They'll still probably get you some!!!"

"Kyaaa!!!!"

Hisoka stiffened. He made a sideways glance across the store. To his growing horror, Tsuzuki and him were the focus of most of the store, including salesclerks and female customers.

"It's a lover's fight!!"

"He doesn't want him fawning over _girls_!!"

"They're both attractive!!"

"They make a cute couple!!"

Hisoka felt heat rush to his cheeks. It didn't help that he could sense the glee from the various women over seeing such a 'cute couple'. He grabbed Tsuzuki by his sleeve. "Choose ONE chocolate and I'll buy it for you. Let's get out of here."

Tsuzuki looked oblivious. "Okay!!"

_March 13__th__, 11:35 a.m._

There was 2,500 yen left in change from all the crazy decorations, but Hisoka wasn't inclined to protest. He also wasn't inclined to let anyone know about the change and planned to pocket it for himself, as payback for being put up to this task.

Tsuzuki, however, had other ideas.

"Let's go get lunch!!"

"Why?" Hisoka asked dully, pocketing the remaining yen.

"Because it's lunchtime!! And how often are we able to go out for lunch together while not on the job?"

"Tsuzuki, I took you out to lunch for your birthday. Remember, the Sanseigo in Nagasaki?"

"Oh, never mind that!!! Let's still go get lunch!!"

Hisoka sighed heavily, not wanting to argue any further. "You're just going to do what you want, anyways. Just choose a place where 2,500 can cover us both."

"Wai!!! Let's go eat!!!" Tsuzuki grabbed him again and dragged him off to their destination.

It was _Aquavit_ in Aoyama.

"Sugoi!!" gushed Tsuzuki, looking all around them. "Wakaba-chan told me about this place, but I didn't expect it to be _this _nice!!"

Hisoka eyed their surroundings with trepidation. The restaurant itself was incredibly upscale, Japanese and Northern European artwork lining the walls. Only a few patrons sat at the other tables, but they looked like…couples. His unease only grew stronger.

Tsuzuki whipped open his menu. "I think I'll skip the first two courses and jump straight to dessert!!"

Hisoka slowly opened his menu. He caught the main heading and annoyance flared inside him. "Tsuzuki."

"What is it, Hisoka? Ooh, should I get the blueberry cobbler or the chocolate custard cake?"

"The lunch special of two courses is 4,700 yen. _Each_."

Tsuzuki glanced at him briefly. "Is that a bad thing? Hmm, I wonder what's in the Princess Cake—"

"I told you to choose a place that would cover our 2,500 yen, not…9,400!!" Hisoka tried not to raise his voice, but it was difficult.

Tsuzuki waved his menu calmly. "Oh, don't worry!! I just said I didn't want the lunch special, only dessert!!"

"…Fine. But that still leaves 4,700 yen for _my _lunch. Not to mention whatever desserts you choose." Hisoka glanced at the dessert section. "_None _of which are under 1,000 yen!!"

Tsuzuki laughed nervously. "Okay, okay, how about _I _just treat us and you can keep the 2,500?"

Hisoka tried very hard to stay calm. "That _still _puts us over our 3,000 yen a day budget!! Your pay has _still _been docked!! And so has mine!!"

Tsuzuki was now trying really hard to look cheerful. "It'll be all right, Hisoka. I'll take the fall for it. Let's just enjoy this, okay? We don't get opportunities like this."

It was always difficult to stay mad at Tsuzuki, especially when he was being sincere.

_What harm will this cause? You may have a massive pay decrease, but you still have some money. It's only lunch. It's not like you'll be back here every single day…if at all. And Tsuzuki looks like he wants to have fun with you._

Hisoka tried not to sigh and slowly nodded his head. "We'll split the paycheck together and hide the receipt from Tatsumi-san."

Sparkles filled Tsuzuki's eyes and he clapped his hands in front of him. "WAI!!!! Arigato, 'Soka-chan!!!!"

"But you're covering the costs of your desserts."

Tsuzuki's glee deflated slightly, but he kept a smile on his face. "Okay!!"

_March 13__th__, 12:17 p.m._

As Hisoka feared, Tsuzuki ordered every dessert on the menu, including two servings of the Princess Cake. Hisoka calmly stuck with the lunch special, ordering gravlax for his first course and toast skagen for the second. He wanted to keep it all as simple as possible, despite the price staying the same.

"I hope you'll have room for the chocolate you'll get tomorrow," Hisoka observed.

"Hmm!!!" Tsuzuki smiled around a spoonful of rose hip soup. "I told you I probably won't be getting many chocolates tomorrow. But I _do _owe everyone chocolates for Valentines, including you!!"

"It's no big deal."

"It'll be exciting, though!! I'm finally use to the oven and I know everyone will enjoy the chocolate I made from it!!"

Hisoka glanced up at this. "What? You made the chocolate for _everyone_?"

"Of course I did!!" Tsuzuki took a large spoonful of the chocolate custard. "I made a big mess out of my Valentines chocolates, and making them for you mattered more to me. But now I know what I'm doing and so I can share my new skills with everyone!!"

"…I see." Hisoka picked at his skagen idly with his fork. His insides were churning. It was weird, though. Why should he care that Tsuzuki made chocolates for everyone? He should be happy that Tsuzuki's finally managed to cook something correctly.

_But he made chocolates exclusively for YOU for Valentines. And you, in turn, made chocolates for him and him alone for White Day. It sort of takes the meaning of making chocolates for each other when he makes it for other people._

"So what'd you get _me _for White Day?" asked Tsuzuki cheerfully.

"Huh?" Hisoka glanced at him. "Uh…consider this lunch your White Day gift from me."

"Eh???" Tears filled Tsuzuki's eyes. "But lunch was MY idea!! And I'm paying for myself!!"

"Then I'll cover you," said Hisoka hastily. "There, you happy now?"

"Awwww, you're mean 'Soka-chan!!!"

Hisoka shook his head. This was no big deal. Once tomorrow came, Tsuzuki would know he'd made chocolates just for him.

But he still didn't feel better.

_March 13__th__, 1:30 p.m._

"You guys finally came back!!" Wakaba greeted them cheerfully enough. Everyone in the office was looking at them expectantly.

Hisoka tossed her the bag. "Here are your decorations. I'm not making another run, so deal with what you've got."

The girls pulled open the bag and sorted through everything he bought. Judging from their horrible glee, Hisoka guessed they were pleased with his selections. He didn't care, of course, and simply went to his desk.

He should've known better than to think they would leave him alone. "Hisoka-chaaaaan!!! Thank youuuuuuu!!!"

"Please wear our White Day dress!!!" he heard Yuma and Saya lunge for him, but he dove over his desk to avoid their clutches. "Please please PLEASE!!!!"

"NO!!!!" he hollered, running around the desks. "I'm leaving early!!!"

"Awwww, don't be like that Hisoka-chan!!" Yuma cried, chasing after him.

Saya followed suit. "That's right!! We spent a lot of time on those repairs to the Valentine's Day dress!! The very least you could do would be to wear this new one as an apology!!"

"I owe you two NOTHING!!!"

Wakaba started hanging up decorations, ignoring all the noise. "Here, would you like to help me, Tsuzuki-san?"

Hisoka felt a pulse of jealousy through the annoying emotions from the girls. A quick glance around the office and he caught Terazuma sitting at his desk, giving Tsuzuki a stony expression.

"Mmm, maybe not right now," said Tsuzuki, forcing a smile. "I'm a little tired after the lunch hour."

"Why am I not surprised?" Terazuma said rather loudly.

Wakaba grinned evilly at him. "Then why don't _you_ help me, Haijime-chan?!"

"…No."

"_You _should help us, Hisoka-chan!!!" Yuma and Saya chorused.

"No!!!" Hisoka finally found the door and ran out. Though he felt marginally better that he'd escaped the harpies, something didn't feel right. He'd felt the stupid glee of the girls and the jealousy from Terazuma, but he'd definitely felt something else.

Solemn. And it'd come from Tsuzuki.

_March 13__th__, 7:07 p.m._

Hisoka winced inwardly as he cracked open the chocolate mold. The white puppy looked as hideous as he thought it would, barely forming the outline of an animal. It looked like a giant white tumor.

_Well, whatever. Tsuzuki will certainly eat it._

Hisoka didn't do anything fancy with it, just wrapped it in plastic and tied it with a rubber band before he tossed it into the fridge. Several other people had gotten him chocolate at the office, but he'd only made chocolate for Tsuzuki. But he also figured everyone would be getting enough chocolate that his lack of giving would go unnoticed.

Hisoka sighed and shook his head. There was very little to do other than go to bed, but it was way too early. He left the kitchen and glanced into the living room. It wasn't exactly a pigsty, but it wasn't exactly clean, either.

"Looks like I'm cleaning," he mumbled to himself. He picked up what little there was to be picked up and straightened things out. He found his coat last and grabbed it to hang it up.

Something hard hit his leg as he tucked the coat under his arm. He didn't usually keep many things in his coat pocket. He reached inside and his fingers found a rectangular object. Dread began to swell inside him quickly and he yanked it out.

It was a cassette tape. But he didn't carry cassette tapes around.

_Someone's trying to mess with me again!!_ It was becoming almost manic, that he find a crazy tape either magically in his pockets or inside his walkman. The last one was the most embarrassing, as he woke up halfway through a monologue by that accurse woman describing how anal sex could be pleasurable.

_And what does THIS one say?_ Hisoka flipped it over to see the label. "… 'Pitcher and Catcher: Know your Role'? What the hell is this suppose to mean?!"

Hisoka stared at it for another long minute and suddenly felt tired. This was too stupid to waste any more time on. He quickly shook his head and headed back into the kitchen. He threw the tape into the trash as hard as he could.

_March 14__th__, 2:19 a.m._

Hisoka cursed in frustration and turned over onto his side. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't go to sleep.

Outside of the shifting of bed sheets, the only sound that could be heard was the melancholy melody emitting from the top of his dresser. All too abruptly, the music stopped and Hisoka found himself climbing out of bed for the umpteenth time to rewind the music box so that _Amethyst Remembrance _once again flooded the room.

It was strange, though. Normally his Christmas gift from Tsuzuki helped to put him to sleep when he really needed it. But it wasn't working very well tonight.

_Why does everything of little use keep getting linked back to Tsuzuki? And what was the deal with him, acting so morose when we came back?! I paid for our damn lunch, even though it cost me an arm and a leg!! Unless he thinks I'm really not getting him anything for White Day? No, it can't be that. He's bound to get tons of candy tomorrow, even if it's not what the holiday is about. He can't be upset over something I didn't mean…_

_Well, it wouldn't be the first time._

No, he had to stop thinking like that. On that note, he had to stop thinking about Tsuzuki all together or he might so something stupid. His mind began to wander back to that tape sitting in his trash can. It was really no different than any of the other tapes, despite its vague title.

Maybe _that_ was the source of his insomnia. Yeah, that had to be it. This wasn't the first time he'd made Tsuzuki cry, after all. That tape must be bugging him like all of the others did. He was afraid of listening to it, especially in his sleep, and how this one might screw up his mind like the others did.

Even finding the source of his discomfort, Hisoka still wasn't asleep a half-hour later. He cursed again and kicked aside the covers. He'd need all of his energy dealing with the idiots tomorrow. Why couldn't he just _sleep_?! Maybe it really _was _that fucking tape!!

Cursing even more violently, Hisoka jumped out of bed and stalked over to his kitchen. The tape was still sitting at the bottom of the can. He fished it out and held it high, rereading the label over and over again. Why would they give him something like this?! Pitcher and Catcher…knowing the sicko harassing him, this tape had absolutely nothing to do with baseball.

Despite his anger, though, he was morbidly curious by what sort of message the tape held.

Hisoka shook his head again and went back into his room. _Amethyst Remembrance_ was starting to wind down again, but he ignored it for the time being. He slapped the tape into his walkman and shoved the headphones over his head. Before he pressed play, though, he rewound the music box as far as it would go. He figured that as long as he had background noise it would help keep him distracted by whatever the tape might do to him.

"God help me," He muttered as he pressed play.

"_Hello and welcome to 'Pitcher and Catcher: Know your Role',"_ greeted the disgustingly cheerful voice. _"In this very quick and easy lesson, you will learn to understand the specific roles you must take in your relationship."_

"Shit, I knew it."

"_I know you must be thinking to yourself 'What ever do you mean by 'roles'? This is real life, and not a movie or anime'. Correct, you are. But when you take the term 'role' and apply it to ANY relationship, it's in reference of how the two—or three, or four, or five, depending upon your own relationship—stand._

"_You might also think to yourself 'Why, we need no roles!! We're equal and happy as we are'!! While this might be true, little do you realize just how "different" you are when you look at the 'roles' you play in your relationship?"_

He'd barely been listening to the tape thirty seconds and he hated it already.

"_Japanese culture in particular places great emphasis on relationship roles, particularly who will 'lead' and who will 'follow'. The one who 'leads' must lead in every sense of the word, while the one who 'follows' must follow the lead's example. This applies to every relationship, whether it be between a man and a woman, two women, or two men. But heterosexual relationships are the easiest to assign roles, because it's usually the man who will lead the woman. Same-sex relationships are a lot more complicated."_

Hisoka felt a strong headache forming and rubbed his forehead wearily.

"_To begin, let's talk about the relationship between two women." _Hisoka's finger inched towards the fast-forward button. _"This can be difficult to identify on first sight because some women won't display particularly dominant traits on their partner, especially in public. But consider these questions when you look at your relationship with another woman. Who initiates intimacy? If you hold hands, whose hand goes on top? Do you see yourself as the strong one or do you look upon your partner for strength? These are very important questions to consider."_

_Who'd honesty spend time doing that?! _Hisoka thought with disgust.

"_Or even simpler, take a look at the relationship between two women. Can you identify one that initiates intimacy in public? How about the one who leads by example, whether determining something as simple as a place to eat, or something more serious like where they should live? Subtlety is key, but if you look very closely then identifying the roles assumed can be quite simple."_

"Yeah, like I'm going to do THAT," Hisoka grumbled.

"_Now, let's examine the dynamic of two men. This sort of relationship seems much easier to identify. The roles have been popularly assigned as 'seme' and 'uke'. The seme is the leader, ala the pitcher, of the relationship and the uke is the follower, or the catcher. Sometimes this can be as simple as height. Which of you is the tallest? Most typically, height is a natural sign of dominance and so you can find the top in this individual. For those of you who DON'T know, the top—"_

Hisoka quickly fast-forward for a couple of seconds and then pressed play again.

"…_submission," _the woman continued. _"So now you know how the roles work. Identifying such roles based on common personality traits in the top and bottom can be a little more difficult. With tops—"_

Hisoka realized the music box had stopped playing. He paused the tape and went to wind it back up again. Once _Amethyst Remembrance _was resonating throughout the room once again, he went back to his bed. He picked up the walkman uneasily. Did he still want to keep listening? Well…he still didn't feel tired.

_It's not like this tape interests me in any way_, he thought miserably, sliding his headphones back on and pressing play.

"—_they tend to display very masculine, dominant traits," _continued the woman. _"Though the bottom will seem the most seeking of physical and emotional affection, it will be the top who delivers it the most. The top will also often display traits of control, often protectiveness of their partners. They can also be counted on for displaying maturity and making the hard decisions._

"_With bottoms, they most commonly have a difficult time controlling their emotions and thus rely on their partners to keep them under control. There are a few exceptions to the rule, such as if the bottom is older than the top and/or has more experience than their partner. Though they will allow them the traditional top controls, but will be the most reserved and truly in-control."_

For some reason, the implications on the tape started making Hisoka uneasy. He tried very hard not to take it seriously. He didn't even know why he was listening to the damn tape, but now he couldn't seem to stop. The woman's monotone voice droned on and on about 'roles' and Hisoka started struggling to stay awake. He didn't even want to think of what would happen if he _did _fall asleep while listening to this thing.

"…_If you keep these key ideas in mind, then not only will your relationship improve with your current or potential partner, but also you in turn will discover many extraordinary thing about yourself."_

The end. Hisoka pressed stop on the walkman. The music box still played on his dresser. He realized he was _very _tired now and lay down to go to sleep.

_Well, _something _worked, _he thought to himself. _There shouldn't be any after-effects of this tape…right?_

Hisoka's eyes snapped open and he quickly sat up. What _would _happen if he went to sleep now? Would he awake unaffected? Or would the tape _change _him in some way like the others did?

"Shit," he grumbled, punching his pillow as hard as he could. He wanted to be tired again and now he was. But now he was too paranoid to sleep.

_March 14__th__, 9:16 a.m._

It took six cups of straight-up black coffee to get Hisoka functioning again. Even so, he felt horribly exhausted as he hauled himself into the Shokan Department. Maybe Tatsumi would let him use his espresso maker?

He quickly realized that there were _many _ways for him to stay exhausted.

"Hisoka-chaaaaaaaan!!!" Hisoka jumped back about twenty feet as the hellish harpies flung themselves at him. "Happy White Day!!!!!"

"Just stay away from me and give me _peace _today!!" Hisoka snapped, trying to maneuver around the girls to his desk. "I got absolutely no sleep last night!!!"

Watari skipped over to him and placed a hand on his head. "Hmm, you don't feel feverish, Bon. But perhaps I can give you some tea—"

Hisoka batted his hand away. "No thanks, I just want some peace and quiet today."

"But we have the White Day Pink House special!!!" cried Yuma, pulling out a fluffy white dress from out of nowhere.

"It's twenty different shades of white!!" added Saya, rubbing the fabric of the skirt against her cheek.

The dress like just plain white to Hisoka, covered with bows, sequins, and lace. He tried not to throw up in his mouth as he bypassed the girls to his desk. However, what he saw made him stop in his tracks.

"Waiiii!!! I didn't expect this!!!" gushed Tsuzuki. There was a pile of white chocolate all over his desk. "White Day isn't meant for guys, but I'm not complaining!!!"

"You made some really cute chocolate, and so I can't help but return the favor!!" supplied Wakaba, patting him on the shoulder. She glanced over her shoulder. "Do you have _my _White Day gift yet, Hajime-chan?"

Terazuma grumbled something incoherent under his breath.

_He doesn't seem very dominant, does he? _wondered Hisoka. He froze. _Wait…what was that? Where'd that thought come from?_

Hisoka decided to ignore it as he slowly walked over to Tsuzuki. "Where did all of this chocolate come from, Tsuzuki?"

"Oh, _everybody _gave me chocolate!!! It feels like I'm reliving Valentine's Day all over again!!!" He sorted through the chocolate. "I can't wait to—"

His voice stopped abruptly as he found a simple note. Hisoka watched the color drain from his face as he read it. He quickly snatched the note away to see what it said.

"'Where's my White Day gift, Tsuzuki-san? Muraki Kazutaka'." Hisoka gritted his teeth. "He never stops, does he?!"

Tsuzuki let out a small whimper, and that was enough for Hisoka. He ripped the note apart into tiny, tiny pieces. "There. Now he can't bother you, Tsuzuki."

Tsuzuki sniffled a little, but he quickly nodded and smiled at Hisoka. "Thank you."

"Awwww!!!" Hisoka stiffened as Yuma and Saya latched onto him from behind. "Hisoka-chan sweeps in for the rescue again!!!!"

"Get off me!!!" Hisoka yelled, trying to buck them off.

"Oh, that reminds me!!!" Tsuzuki said suddenly. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a white chocolate teddy bear, and shoved it into Hisoka's hands, despite his struggles with Yuma and Saya. "Happy White Day, 'Soka-chan!!!"

"Gee, thanks," Hisoka snapped with heavy sarcasm. "Now can you get these morons off me?!"

Tsuzuki grinned a little and clapped his hands. "Please leave 'Soka-chan alone and go enjoy my candy?"

The girls grumbled, but they let Hisoka go and walked back to their desks. Hisoka brushed off his jacket briskly and shoved the teddy bear into his pocket. "Thanks, I guess."

"Well, you _did _treat me to a wonderful lunch for my White Day present." Tsuzuki held onto his smile, but Hisoka could tell that it was fake. He'd remembered to bring the semi-puppy with him today, which was in his other pocket. But he felt very nervous by the eyes around the room, especially since his gift was obviously home-made.

_I'll just give it to him later and so he doesn't have to be upset over this. Well…he's not really upset over ME. Muraki gave him the creeps again, after all…_

"Oh, there's another thing!!" Tsuzuki gasped again. He ruffled through the pile until he found a clear bag full of awkward-shaped white chocolate. He handed it to Hisoka. "Happy White Day, from Byakko!!!"

Hisoka mutely took the candy and stared at it. Yeah, the tiny card had Byakko's name on it. He looked up at Tsuzuki's desk and saw the names of his Shikigami on more of the tiny cards. "…Why would _your _Shikigami give _me_ a White Day gift?"

"Because he likes you, that's why!!" said Tsuzuki, as if that answered anything.

Hisoka continued to stare at the chocolate for a long moment before he sighed. "Okay, whatever." He shoved it into the same pocket as Tsuzuki's bear.

Tsuzuki giggled like a child and clapped his hands in front of him. "I'm going to enjoy eating every—WAGH!!!!"

Hisoka was immediately on guard as Tsuzuki jumped high out of chair, screaming in surprise. Tsuzuki turned to his side and Hisoka moved to look around him to see who it was.

Only…he couldn't see. A huge stack of colorfully wrapped boxes greeted them. A pair of rotting hands clasped the bottom most box and Hisoka then knew who it was.

"Hakushaku-sama wishes Tsuzuki-sama a Happy White Day," greeted Watson, holding the boxes out to Tsuzuki expectantly. "He also wishes to let you know that he's not offended by not receiving a return gift for Valentine's Day from you, and he will be by later to see you in person."

Hisoka gave Tsuzuki a sideways glance. "That…weirdo gave you a Valentine's Day gift? I don't remember—"

"Why thank you, Watson!!" Tsuzuki cut in quickly, laughing very nervously. He snatched all of the boxes from Watson. "But you can tell Hakushaku that a visit isn't necessary—"

"No, he's quite insistent," Watson interrupted, smiling sincerely. "He'll be stopping by between noon and three."

"That's…vague," said Tsuzuki uneasily.

"Well, if you'll excuse me…" and Watson left as quietly as he came in.

Hisoka looked at the presents Hakushaku gave Tsuzuki. Even with so many boxes, they were probably filled with chocolate. His eyes drifted over to the chocolate sitting on his desk. He thought about the chocolate he'd made for Tsuzuki, and Tsuzuki alone. But everybody else had gotten him chocolate and he'd made everybody chocolate.

_My gift doesn't seem…worth very much, huh? _he thought to himself. _And the gifts Tsuzuki made are all too personal. He'd only made Valentine's chocolates for me, but White Day…_

Hisoka quickly shook his head. No, he didn't like thinking that way.

"Doesn't that Hakushaku have a _crush_ on you?!" Terazuma asked snidely, snickering to himself.

Tsuzuki began whimpering again. "Wah…I don't want to be here between noon and three!!!"

_He's acting more like a bottom than a top_, thought Hisoka. The thought was so unexpected that he nearly said it aloud. He clamped his hands over his ears and closed his eyes. _No, no, nothing's going to happen!!! I avoided sleep so that this tape wouldn't affect me!! And how can Tsuzuki be a bottom, anyways?! Wait, what the fuck?! Stop thinking about this NOW!!!_

"Bon?" Hisoka turned around and found a cup being shoved under his nose. "Here, drink this!! This will help make you feel better!!"

"Cutting my head off will make me feel better," said Hisoka sourly, brushing past Watari to his desk.

Watari 'tsked' at him. "Poor Bon. Today is supposed to be a fun day!! Don't you want to have fun? I know _I _would like to!!!"

"Your definition of 'fun' put me into Tatsumi-san's body in the past." Hisoka collapsed into his chair, sighing again.

But Watari only giggled. "Is it so wrong to want to have fun? I would love having _fun _every day!!" He swept his arms out and spun around.

…_He acts like a bottom._ Hisoka was horrified by these spontaneous thoughts. It was that damned tape's fault!! He shouldn't have listened to it!!!

_Well, there's no helping it NOW. I just have to hope today goes smoothly._

_March 14th, 12:04 p.m._

Hisoka knew he should've known better. The day was incredibly slow and Tsuzuki busied himself with eating his chocolate instead of working on (or starting) a report, although when noon hit he started glancing over his shoulder with an extreme amount of paranoia.

And of course, Hisoka couldn't stop the barrage of thoughts that coursed violently through his head.

"Come now, where's my White Day gift, Hajime-chan?" Wakaba asked teasingly, nudging his arm.

Terazuma rolled his eyes at her. "Just leave me alone, huh?"

_Her dominance over him will cause him to cave soon. _Hisoka nearly bit through his lip.

Yuma brushed out the White Day dress skirt. "We need a new scheme to get Hisoka into this dress!!!" she of course said this loud enough for Hisoka to hear.

"We'll come up with something soon, I'm sure of it," said Saya confidently, flipping through her latest issue of _Pink House _and making circles with a red marker.

_She's in the most control. _Hisoka furiously shook his head. _Oh God NO!!! I WON'T think of those two like that!!!_

Yuma grinned at her friend. "We'll have to think of something soon, though!! This dress would be a terrible waste if we couldn't squeeze Hisoka's plush body into this dress!!"

Hisoka succeeded in throwing up in his mouth.

"You're right!!" cried Saya with newfound energy. "We must scheme immediately!!!"

_No, the other one has more power._ Hisoka was close to dry-heaving. Why couldn't he just STOP?! But he guessed it _could_ be worse. He could be saying these disgusting thoughts out loud.

"Attention!!!" everyone was startled at the sudden appearance of the Gushoushin brothers floating through the office. The youngest swung a list in his hand. "The following people owe library books…except for Hisoka-san, of course!!"

"Please hand them over before we impose late fees," added the older one cheerfully.

Hisoka slapped his hands over his ears and hummed loudly. The last thing he needed was to have thoughts about THOSE two.

The Gushoushin breezed through Shokan quickly, pointedly ignoring Tsuzuki and Terazuma (to Tsuzuki's dismay) and then left.

And after they left, there was…surprising silence.

Hisoka uncovered his hands from over his ears. This was strange. Outside of the very loud chewing from Tsuzuki's desk, conversations were soft and discreet. Except for the occasional outburst or two or three.

"_We need a new scheme to get Hisoka into this dress!!!"_

"_Today is supposed to be a fun day!! Don't you want to have fun? I know _I _would like to!!!"_

"_Doesn't that Hakushaku have a _crush _on you?!"_

There was something…odd to Hisoka about the way everyone was speaking today. Most of the time they weren't talking directly _at _him, but there was something deliberate about the way they said words.

Wait…was everyone trying to invoke a _response _from him?!

_Oh shit…_Hisoka felt the blood drain from his face. _They're all expecting me to act out!!! They must think I listened to another weird tape!!_

Well, he _did. _But his reactions to it were strictly internal. But everyone was expecting him to act crazy, like he did on Valentine's and every other holiday thus far.

Hisoka stood up so abruptly that his chair screeched across the floor.

"What's wrong, 'Soka-chan?" asked Tsuzuki with a full mouth of chocolate.

"…I'm going to go see Tatsumi-san," said Hisoka quietly, quickly heading for the door.

"You can't escape!!!" Yuma and Saya cried, running after him. But Hisoka was faster and slammed the door behind him. He heard the two girls slam into the closed door, and that gave him enough time to run down the hallway. He hadn't seen a hair of Tatsumi or Konoe all day (both probably hiding themselves away), but he knew Tatsumi had to be in his office. There couldn't be anyone else to help him at the moment than him.

_March 14__th__, 12:32 p.m._

Tatsumi sighed heavily and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It seems that trouble follows you senselessly, Kurosaki-kun."

"Yeah, no kidding," grumbled Hisoka. "What do you think I should do? Could Watari-san develop another cure for me?"

"Well…you _did _say it was all internal, right?"

"I haven't said anything out loud yet."

"Hmm." Tatsumi shrugged his shoulders. "Then it should just wear off on its own. This isn't nearly as serious as it could be."

"I hope you're not telling me to just _deal _with this," complained Hisoka, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand. "Having these unexpected thoughts is incredibly irritating!!"

"I'm just telling you what Watari-san would no doubt tell you. Today is White Day and so our coworkers will undoubtedly act…crazy. But if you can survive today, tomorrow should be much better for you."

"I sure hope so." Hisoka didn't want to think of what would happen if he was plagued by these thoughts for all eternity. He'd never have a moment's peace, much less look at anybody the same again.

"Speaking of White Day…" Tatsumi folded his hands on the desk. "I heard that Tsuzuki-san received a surprising number of chocolates for a holiday like today."

Hisoka shrugged neutrally, or as neutrally as he could. "He's popular. All the girls got him chocolates, and so did his Shikigami and even that Hakushaku guy…"

Tatsumi's face darkened suddenly. "Is that so?"

"Um, yeah?" Hisoka felt a little uneasy, but he was somewhat relieved he wasn't on the receiving end of that malice. "Muraki also dropped him a note, but I got rid of it."

Tatsumi's face clouded over and Hisoka was sure he would explode with anger. Thankfully, he seemed to calm down a bit and sighed. "Thank you for that, Kurosaki-kun."

It was Hisoka's turn to shrug. "You don't need to. If Muraki continues to mess with Tsuzuki, then that's just more the reason for me to go after him and stop him."

Tatsumi nodded. "To change the subject, can I ask what you got for Tsuzuki-san for White Day?"

Hisoka hoped he wasn't blushing. His eyes drifted down to the chocolate puppy tumor bulging in his pocket. "…I made him some chocolate." He bit the words out.

"Really, now? That was nice of you, Kurosaki-kun." Tatsumi managed a small smile. "I'm sure he enjoyed it greatly."

"Oh, I haven't given it to him yet."

"_What?!_" Hisoka was startled by Tatsumi's sudden sharp tone. But Tatsumi didn't look angry. He looked very astonished, though. "And why not?"

Hisoka shrugged again, trying to get rid of both of their unease. "I haven't had time to, and I don't need to be hounded by everybody in the office about it."

"Does Tsuzuki-san know he's getting chocolate from you?"

"…No," said Hisoka reluctantly, and left it at that.

But Tatsumi wasn't satisfied with that. "Then you need to give it to him as soon as possible."

"I _will _give it to him, but at the end of the day."

Tatsumi shook his head. "Kurosaki-kun…Tsuzuki-san is probably very upset at the thought of not getting chocolate from you."

"He'll be fine," said Hisoka firmly. He couldn't believe he was having this kind of conversation with Tatsumi. "I really will give it to him. Besides, he has all of that chocolate to keep him busy today—"

"But he wants chocolate from _you _more than anyone else. And if he continues to think he's getting _nothing_ from you, he'll become very depressed."

Hisoka couldn't deny that Tsuzuki wasn't in the best of spirits today. It seemed too simple to blame it entirely on Hisoka, but his mood did stem from yesterday, when Hisoka made him think that the lunch they ate was his White Day gift.

_Why the hell does Tsuzuki CARE if he gets no chocolate from me?! I took him out to eat on his fucking birthday and he didn't care then!!! Why should it matter now?!_

_I think you know the answer VERY well._

"All right, I understand," said Hisoka quickly, trying to cut off that last thought. "I'll pull him outside in a little while and give him the chocolate then."

Tatsumi nodded to this. "That's wonderful to hear, Kurosaki-kun."

_With such a dominating personality, there's no way he could submit to anyone. _Hisoka balked at this thought and clamped his hands over his ears again. _This had BETTER end tomorrow or I'll go crazy!!!_

_March 14th, 12:57 p.m._

It was always good to expect unexpected blips in any plan. And Watari always expected the unexpected.

He would've thought Hisoka had thrown the tape out. Or by some miracle had listened to it in his sleep. Alas, though the young Shinigami wasn't making relationship analyses, something _had _affected him in some day.

That meant he'd listened to the tape. Not asleep, but he'd listened to it. There was hope, after all.

Drugging the members of the control room (new members because the last batch had been fired) was more difficult this time around. And hijacking all of the security cameras leading up to the control room was even more difficult. But he needed discretion in order to keep his covert operation in covert status. And he'd succeeded, of course.

"I think the tape gave him too much to think about, and not necessary in the good sense," laughed Watari. He sat at the main panel with 003 on his shoulder and pulled something out of his pocket. "But _this…_and a combination of the tape he listened to last night should make for a very _nice _combination."

He laid the object out on the panel. It was Minase Hijiri's latest CD, with a violin sitting in a porch chair on the cover. "Since Minase-kun has been so successful so far, it's only right I _indulge _everyone, isn't it?"

003 simple hooted.

---

Elsewhere, Enma reapplied his earphones.

_March 14__th__, 1:06 p.m._

"Now that I think about it," said Hisoka. "How am I suppose to stop the bastard who's harassing me with these tapes?!"

"The perpetrator won't stay hidden forever—" began Tatsumi.

A burst of violently loud classical music erupted from the loudspeakers, startling both Hisoka and Tatsumi. Hisoka immediately covered his ears in case the music meant the worst for him.

"…Somebody's hijacked the control room again," said Tatsumi grimly, slowly rising from his seat.

"Who keeps doing this?!" demanded Hisoka, though he removed his hands from his ears. Though the classical music was obnoxiously loud, he didn't sense anything significantly different about himself. He seemed…normal. Somewhat. "It's not affecting me."

"Me either," said Tatsumi, straightening his glasses as he headed for the door. "But we shouldn't relax yet."

Hisoka nodded and followed him to the door. He glanced at the loudspeaker curiously at the fast-paced violin solo. "This sounds familiar…"

"This is off Minase-kun's latest album," said Tatsumi off-handedly.

"Really? I didn't know he'd released a CD."

Both Shinigami exited the office very slowly. There didn't seem to be anybody in the hallway. Still being careful, they made their way to Shokan. Before they reached the doors, though, Hisoka saw something that shocked him. Two employees of JuOhCho, though not of their department, were openly making out in the hallway.

_Uh oh. _Tatsumi pushed into the office and Hisoka quickly followed. What he saw in there only further shocked him.

"Hajime-chan, I've loved you for decades!!!" Wakaba declared dramatically, throwing her arms around Terazuma.

And Terazuma didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was returning her hug. "I know, Kannuki!!! I love you too!!! I get so angry whenever I see you with Tsuzuki because I think he's going to steal you away from me!!!"

_It looks like he wants to gain dominance over her by being more upfront in his confession. _Hisoka was struck speechless. He looked all around the room at his coworkers locked in very passionate embraces.

"Saya, you mean the world to me!!!" wailed Yuma, squeezing her friend as tightly as she could. "I lovelovelove the Pink House dress you gave me because I love you!!!"

"And I got it for you because I love you too!!!" cried Saya, just as passionately. And in the blink of an eye the two young women were kissing each other.

_They seem to dominate each other very well. _"Uh…what the fuck?!" Hisoka sputtered, giving Tatsumi a sideways glance. "What's going on?!"

Tatsumi shuddered very visibly. "I…believe this has something to do with Minase-kun's latest CD."

Hisoka glanced towards the loudspeakers. The classical music was still so horribly loud, and so it was difficult to listen to it closely. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to concentrate. After a few moments, he caught something.

"…_love…confess…be unafraid to declare yourself…"_

His eyes snapped open. "It's subliminal messaging!!!"

Suddenly, someone pounced on him from behind. "'Soka-chaaaaaaan!!!!!"

Hisoka froze again. Unexpectedly, a warm tingly feeling began to spread inside his chest and his heart began beating rapidly. He bit down hard on his lip before he could say anything he might regret.

The person at his back, though… "Oh Hisoka, I love you!!! I've loved you when I first saw you, even though you were pointing a gun at me!!! And I love you now even though you didn't get me White Day chocolate!!!"

_He's asserting himself that he can manage as a top. _He was biting his lip so hard that he drew blood. Even so, Hisoka couldn't help the words grounding out from between his teeth. "I—lo-lo-lo ve-ve you too, Tsuzuki!!!"

"WAIII!!!!!" Tsuzuki squeezed him harder. "I'm soooooo happy!!!"

Tatsumi stared at them blankly for a few moments. "Am I correct in assuming that the subliminal messaging has to do with love confessions?"

"Please please PLEASE put a stop to this before anything happens!!!" Hisoka manage to choke out. Tsuzuki only hugged him tighter.

The door to the office opened behind them and Konoe stormed in, looking very haggard. "The whole place is going insane, and the music—"

"KACHOU-SAN!!!!!" to everyone's growing horror, the younger Gushoushin latched onto Konoe's shoulder, looking absolutely happy. "Kachou-san, I'm in love with you!!!"

_He's taking initiative—no, NO!!!!!_

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!?!" screamed the older Gushoushin, wringing his head.

"Tsuzuki!!!!" Hisoka further cringed as Hakushaku appeared from out of nowhere and latched himself onto _Tsuzuki's _back. "I love you more than anything, even though you ignore me and treat me so disrespectfully!!!"

"But I love Hisoka!!!" wailed Tsuzuki, only cringing to Hisoka tighter.

"This is a nightmare!!!" shrieked Hisoka, trying to shake both of the idiots off his back.

"This—" began Tatsumi.

Suddenly, the loudspeakers became as quickly silent as they'd become quickly loud. Hisoka allowed himself a very loud and obvious sigh of relief. "Thank God…"

Then he realized that Tsuzuki hadn't let him go.

"I'm soooooooooooo happy you love me, 'Soka-chan!!!" he cried, hugging him tighter. "Because I love you too!!! More than chocolate, candy, and even apple pie!!!"

"Tsuzuki, love me!!!" wailed Hakushaku.

Across the room, Yuma and Saya were still making out with each other and Wakaba and Terazuma were quickly following up with their own show. The younger Gushoushin was trying to kiss Konoe, who was trying to push him away while the older Gushoushin was trying to pull his little brother away.

Tatsumi observed all of this in silence for a very long time before he spoke. "It appears just stopping the tape isn't enough. We'll need a cure tape to reverse these effects."

"Then let's get one!!!" shouted Hisoka, trying to push Tsuzuki away. "Where the HELL is Watari-san when you need him?!?!"

_March 14__th__, 1:31 p.m._

"H-How can I help everyone today?" Watari greeted cheerfully. His face was flushed and he looked completely out of breath.

"Haven't you heard that crazy tape playing all over Meifu?!" demanded Hisoka, trying to keep Tsuzuki at arm's-length. It was by some miracle they shook off Hakushaku, but Tsuzuki wouldn't go away.

"Ah, it was such wonderful classical—"

"It contained subliminal messaging," Tatsumi cut in. "We spoke with the control room, but the suspect evaded surveillance."

"That's…too bad," said Watari, straightening his glasses. "Can I help in some way?"

"Actually, you can. The subliminal messaging has forced everyone to declare love confessions to their…crushes. As you can see with Tsuzuki-san here."

"Stop pushing me away!!!" Tsuzuki whined loudly. "I _know _you love me, you can't deny it!!!"

Watari giggled at this. "Are you sure you want a cure tape for this? It might be healthy for the—"

"CREATE A TAPE, DAMMIT!!!!!" Hisoka roared, struggling furiously with Tsuzuki.

Watari waved a hand dismissively. "Sou desu. I'll get right on it. I think I might have something you all need." He skipped over to his desk.

"'Soka-chaaaaaaan—" whined Tsuzuki, grabbing at him.

"Just stay away!!!" Hisoka yelled, shoving at Tsuzuki as hard as he could. He finally succeeded in getting Tsuzuki away, the force of his shove causing him to stumble and slam into a filing cabinet hard. Hisoka couldn't help but wince as both Tsuzuki _and _the filing cabinet crashed loudly to the floor. The filing cabinet burst open and its contents spilled across the floor.

"Ack!!" cried Watari, rushing to the mess.

Hisoka went over to check on Tsuzuki, when the contents caught his eye. They were cassette tapes, hundreds of them. Even though Watari tried to frantically clean them all up, Hisoka snatched one up and looked at it. He read the title of this tape aloud. "' Improving Your Self-Esteem'." He looked at another and grabbed it before Watari could get it. "'Tasting your Fantasies'." Hisoka looked at all of the tapes on the floor, even as Watari tried to clean them up. He picked up a few more and read the titles. Each one of them was even more degrading and/or stupid.

Realization dawned on him and he was overcome with shock…and anger. "Watari-san…these are _yours_?!"

"Um…" the color drained from Watari's face, though he still tried to clean up. "Uh…Bon—"

"It was YOU?!" Hisoka yelled, jumping to his feet. "All of these tapes…the disgusting messages…everything that's happened to me since October…this is all YOUR FAULT?!?!"

"B-Bon!!!" Watari jumped up too, but some of the tape fell out of his arms. "Th-This is a misunderstanding!!" He tried shoving the tapes into his lab coat pocket, but a jewel case fell out and clattered to the floor.

Tatsumi was able to grab the case before Watari did and looked at it. "This is Minase Hijiri's latest CD…" His whole face clouded over as he looked at Watari. "There's no use denying this. All these tapes, this CD that _just _played in the control room and the insanity they have all caused…you've knowingly done this to us!!!"

"Um…I…" Watari looked completely panicked and at a loss for words. He pointed his finger wildly. "Hey look!!! Over there!!!"

Nobody did. He started shaking and backed up slowly. "Er…you see…I had very good intentions!!! I wanted to help you!!!"

"Making me act like a girl was help?!?!" Hisoka shouted. "Making me act like a crazed nymphomaniac was help?!?! Trying to force me into compromising positions was HELP?!?!" He threw the tapes at Watari. "FUCK YOU _AND _YOUR HELP!!!"

"Hisooooooooka!!!" Tsuzuki threw his arms around him again. "Don't be angry!!! We love each other!!!"

"…You _do _have the reversal tape, correct?" Tatsumi asked in a very cold voice.

"Um, yes," squeaked Watari. "But I—"

The shadows all around the room rippled dangerously. Watari shrieked and covered his head as if warding off a blow.

"Get the reversal tape NOW," Tatsumi snapped.

"And the reversal tape for that tape you gave me yesterday!!!" Hisoka yelled.

"A-A-All right!!! Just give me a second!!!!!"

_March 14__th__, 2:07 p.m._

"…And I'm sincerely sorry for all of the trouble I've caused everyone," said Watari very reluctantly, bowing deeply. "It was immature and terrible of me. Please forgive me."

All of the Shinigami stared blankly back at him. His reversal tape worked beautifully and everyone stopped their love confessions and kissing. Then Tatsumi had marched Watari to the front of the Shokan department to apologize to their coworkers for all the trouble Watari had caused them since Halloween.

Hisoka observed his coworkers neutrally. Most of them looked incredibly embarrassed, particularly Terazuma and the younger Gushoushin. Wakaba and Yuma looked rather crestfallen, Saya looked somewhat neutral, and the older Gushoushin looked pleased and relieved.

"So that's that," said Tatsumi, addressing. "And you can all rely on Watari-san to not pull schemes like this again, _correct_?!"

"Y-Yes," stammered Watari, looking embarrassed and nervous.

Terazuma laughed, but it was a completely humorless laugh. "A simple apology isn't gonna cut it. I've been humiliated by your idea of _fun _before today." He rose from his desk. "You're gonna pay. I'll make sure of it."

Watari 'eeped' a little. "W-Well, I'm already facing a hefty punishment—"

"These past five months have been HELL thanks to you!!" Konoe roared, slamming his fist onto a desk. "It's bad enough for me to deal with Tsuzuki's stupidity, but to have more problems caused by YOU?! When it affects not only us but the ENTIRETY of Meifu?! We're _dead_!!! We help coordinate the dead!!! What if some horrible crisis was going on but we couldn't do anything about it because everyone too busy making out or doing something stupid?!"

"I-I-I-I'm so truly sorry—" Watari began.

"It's not fair!!!" Yuma burst suddenly, jumping to her feet. "Making Hisoka-chan do those things is fine because it's _Hisoka-chan_, but why did you have to involve the rest of us?!"

_What the hell is THAT suppose to mean?!_ Hisoka wondered. He noticed Saya was watching her friend curiously. It was almost as though Saya was _amused _by how upset Yuma was.

"So that's how it is," said Tatsumi. "I thought it was important to get everything out in the open. Now that it has, you all have nothing to fear. Watari-san will be punished completely for his infractions."

Watari gulped audibly.

_March 14__th__, 4:55 p.m._

Hisoka pulled off the headphones and sighed heavily. He was happy Tatsumi managed to produce a walkman from somewhere for him to listen to his cure tape with. He hadn't been able to wait until he got home; he wanted the dirty random thoughts gone ASAP. And now they were…hopefully.

He hadn't seen Tsuzuki since they forced Watari to hand over the other cure tape to the control room. The last he'd seen of his partner he felt very distinct emotions from him.

Glum. Disappointment. Borderline depression.

_Is he depressed about how he acted while under the influence of that CD? _wondered Hisoka as he searched for him. _Or is it something else?_

Hisoka was embarrassed that his own feelings came out, even if they'd been forced out of him. And he was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to hand out Watari's punishment for the sheer hell his friend put him through.

Maybe Tsuzuki hadn't wanted to have his own feelings forced out like that. Or was it because of Hisoka? Maybe Tsuzuki thought he'd be somehow angry with _him _over this situation.

_Whatever. I'll find him and figure out what's going on._

He finally found Tsuzuki outside, sitting outside underneath a cherry blossom tree eating his chocolate. Hisoka could feel his very glum feelings even from twenty feet away. Tsuzuki didn't even seem to be enjoying the chocolate anymore. He ate it as though it was just something to do at the moment, and chewed the chocolate as though he were chewing gravel.

Hisoka sighed a little as he reached him. "So here you are. How are you doing?"

Tsuzuki was startled to see him, but he quickly slapped a smile on his face. "I'm doing fine, Hisoka!! Why wouldn't I be?"

Hisoka rolled his eyes. "You can't bullshit an empath, Tsuzuki. You never could."

"Yeah…" Tsuzuki's face drooped slightly. "I guess I can't."

"Look…" Hisoka didn't really know what to say, but he still tried. "Today was a crazy day. But some good came out of it. At least now Watari-san will finally leave us alone."

Tsuzuki winced, but quickly nodded. "Yeah, you're right Hisoka."

Hisoka then realized what he'd just said. _He was expecting me to say something else about the 'good' that came out of today. Was it about the love confessions?_

"Listen, Tsuzuki…" he began slowly, wringing his hands slightly.

"What is it?" Tsuzuki's mood was getting progressively worse. Hisoka knew then that he couldn't deny that HE was the root of this mood. It made him queasy slightly, but he kept his face neutral. Even while sitting, Tsuzuki was poised stiffly. It was as though he was bracing himself for rejection.

_That's probably EXACTLY what he's doing._

"How about I walk you home tonight?" Hisoka deflected lamely. "Our shift's just about over anyways."

Tsuzuki was visibly startled by Hisoka's words, but a smile reappeared on his face and he nodded. "That would be great, 'Soka-chan!! Are we leaving now?!"

"I'm ready if you are." There, this bought him just a little more time. But once they reached Tsuzuki's apartment…

---

Watari was completely haggard. He stretched out his arms, and he felt each and every ache in them.

He hadn't known what his punishment would be. He didn't anticipate that Tatsumi would hand him two buckets full of dried cement and make him stand in the hall outside of the Shokan Department as though he were back in high school for the remainder of the day.

"Well, time to go home!!" he announced to nobody in particular.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder hard and forced him back down into his seat. "I don't think so."

Watari winced again at the tone in Tatsumi's voice. He should've known he wouldn't be let off the hook THAT easily. "Hai, hai…"

_March 14__th__, 5:22 p.m._

"I have a few snacks we can munch on," Tsuzuki offered tentatively. He pulled bags of cookies and chips out of his cupboards and tossed them over his shoulder. "I'll make some tea, so you can sit back and relax."

Hisoka slowly sat down on Tsuzuki's couch, watching his partner. "You don't have to make me tea, Tsuzuki."

"Oh, it's no bother!! I'll have it ready in a jiffy!!!" Even with Tsuzuki's cheerful demeanor now, he could sense the tension in the air. It was thick, thicker than anything he'd ever experienced. More so, Tsuzuki wasn't happy at the moment. He was still upset; maybe not at Hisoka, but it was still Hisoka's fault.

_How did things get this bad? _he wondered, fidgeting slightly. But he knew why. It was so blatantly obvious with how they acted towards each other with or without the subliminal messages. Their 'confessions' to each other was more of an indicator of this.

But Tsuzuki was avoiding this. And so was he.

"Here we go!!" Tsuzuki announced. He skipped over to him carrying a tray with two steaming cups on saucers. He handed one to Hisoka before he took a seat. "I hope you like it!!!"

Hisoka took a hesitant sip, knowing Tsuzuki's sweet tooth and fearful of what the tea might taste like. Thankfully, the tea was very fine. He couldn't taste the smoky spices without interference from sugar or cream. It suited him just fine.

"Ooshii!!" Tsuzuki sighed after a sip of his tea. "This is just what I need after a long day like today!!"

"Tsuzuki," Hisoka cut in, wanting to skip the small-talk.

Tsuzuki seemed to sense this too. His mood dipped once more, though he kept his smile on his face. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry today wasn't the greatest White Day for you." Hisoka knew if he mentioned anything related to Tsuzuki's current mood that the Shinigami would just pretend everything was all right.

"Oh, it's fine!!! I received a lot of great chocolate from a lot of wonderful people!! Except for Hakushaku, but he left me alone after we had everyone listen to the cure tape."

Hisoka's pocket still bulged with the chocolate he still haven't given Tsuzuki. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I meant that CD. And _our _chocolates."

"Oh, but I _did _enjoy making chocolate this time!!" Tsuzuki gave him a sideways glance. "You still have the one I gave you, right?"

"Yeah—"

"It's fine, really!! I really don't care that you didn't get me chocolate!! We had such a nice lunch yesterday, and—"

Tsuzuki didn't finish. Hisoka pulled his chocolate puppy out and threw it at Tsuzuki, nearly knocking the cup of tea out of his hands. "Here!"

Tsuzuki caught the chocolate before it fell to the floor. "Wha…" He held it up and looked at it mutely for a long time. He glanced at Hisoka. "What's this?"

"What does it look like?!" snapped Hisoka. "It's your White Day gift from me!!"

Tsuzuki's purple eyes went round and wide. Hisoka waved a dismissive hand. "I made it myself so don't expect anything too—"

"'SOKA-CHAN!!!!" Tsuzuki set his tea aside and crushed Hisoka in a tight hug, nearly causing the boy to drop his tea. "Thank you sooooooooo much!!! I was sure—I didn't—Oh, thank you!!!"

"I get the point, now let me go!!" Hisoka yelled, shoving Tsuzuki away. "And I don't want to hear you complaining again!!"

But Tsuzuki smiled at him. "Don't be afraid of a hug, Hisoka!!! Now that we know—"

"No, no, we're NOT discussing that!!" Hisoka yelled, jumping to his feet and walking away from the couch.

Tsuzuki looked crestfallen. "Why not? Isn't that why you walked me home?"

Yes, that was _exactly _why he walked Tsuzuki home. But now that the time had come, Hisoka was even more embarrassed and unsure of what to do.

"Look, Hisoka…" Tsuzuki hesitated before he continued. He hadn't walked over to him, and Hisoka kept his back to him. "I'm not trying to make fun of you and I know you didn't confess to me willingly. But…they still _are _your feelings."

Hisoka didn't say anything. He bit down on his lip and hugged his arms.

"I know it's hard for you to tell me how you feel, because of everything that happened to you when you were alive. But I'm here. I'm here with you. I…I might not be here right this second without you." Tsuzuki's voice started to break. "I could be long gone away from everyone, and I would never have had another Halloween or Christmas or New Years or any of that. And my birthday...you helped me celebrate that to.

"Hisoka…I told you before, didn't I? I love you." Hisoka couldn't help the wince from those words. "Remember? What you told me during that horrible time?"

"_Then exist just for me!!! I don't want to be alone anymore!!!" _

Hisoka let out a shaky breath and tried to not create mental images.

"I'm still here, aren't I? And it's because of you and only you. If…if I'm not by your side, I don't know what I'd do. I know how hard it is, but I'm here and I wouldn't ever hurt you. Is it so hard to be with me?"

No, it wasn't hard. It was too easy. Hisoka knew he could give in, admit these feelings he was too embarrassed to admit to himself. But it _scared _him. He could get everything he ever wanted with Tsuzuki, but he couldn't help but hesitate. The worst always loomed in their eternity. Tsuzuki had many issues Hisoka had no clue about, even though Tsuzuki knew the worst about him. What could happen if the demons of Tsuzuki's life resurfaced?

_But you could face it together, as you always have. Tsuzuki won't abandon you, and you know you would never abandon him. So there's no use acting this way anymore, right? He's here, and he loves you. Nobody's ever loved you. So why turn away from the first person to love you?_

Hisoka sighed again and slowly turned to face Tsuzuki. He felt tears stinging at his eyes, but Tsuzuki looked oddly calm though his eyes were shining as well.

"You want the truth?" Hisoka began quietly. "You want to know if I love you back?"

Tsuzuki nodded.

Hisoka nearly choked on his breath, but he swallowed thickly before he continued. "Fine. You're right, Tsuzuki. I do. I saved you because of it, I react to you under those tapes because of it, and I put up with you because of it."

Tsuzuki's whole face brightened considerably and he smiled a genuine smile. "How about you say those words?"

"Do you have ANY idea how _hard_ this is?!" yelled Hisoka, his whole face turning bright red.

Tsuzuki laughed and stood up from the couch. "Hai, hai, I understand."He walked over to Hisoka until he stood right in front of him. "But it would still be nice to hear."

Hisoka squeezed his eyes shut and tried to calm down. Simple words, right? Oh, Tsuzuki was such a bastard. He already knew how Hisoka felt and yet he badgered him like this?!

"I…" Hisoka kept his eyes shut. It helped that though Tsuzuki was standing right in front of him that he couldn't see him. "I…love you too."

Tsuzuki gave him a hug. Not his typical tackle/glomp or suffocating hug, but a gentle, enveloping hug. Hisoka felt his body relax almost immediately and he didn't bother stopping himself as his own arms came up to hug him back.

Tsuzuki sighed softly, his breath stirring Hisoka's blonde hair. "If…" His lips ghosted over his scalp. "If I ask you…will you stay here tonight?"

Hisoka stiffened. He knew this prospect was an option, especially after what ever happened on New Years. But he knew how limited his experience was with this.

_No, don't even think that. Tsuzuki would NEVER do what Muraki did to you._

Tsuzuki took his silence as a 'no'. "Well…I'm sorry for being so bold. We can wait for that."

"No…" the words came out of Hisoka's mouth before he could stop himself. He leaned his head back so that he could see Tsuzuki. "It's fine. Really, it is." He was nervous…no, scared. But he knew Tsuzuki would never hurt him.

Tsuzuki smiled at him. "Thank you." He leaned down and kissed him. It was very soft, but it reminded Hisoka of the heated kiss they'd shared on Valentines. His toes started to tingle slightly as they became enveloped in the deep kiss, their tongues exploring the other's mouth.

Hisoka became aware that Tsuzuki was walking backwards towards his bedroom. But Hisoka didn't stop him. He didn't even feel nervous. He knew he love him and he knew that everything would be fine.

---

"Wow, these parties really _do _leave gigantic messes, don't they?" Wakaba wondered aloud, shoveling empty bags and boxes of chocolate and decorations into a garbage bag. "But it's worth it…most of the time."

Terazuma said nothing. She knew he'd been upset by the CD making him confess to her, enough to threaten Watari with physical harm. It offended Wakaba by just _how _upset he was, but she was too tired to be outward with her feelings. It would have to wait for another time.

"I guess Children's Day is coming up," she mused, throwing more stuff into the bag. "Although Tatsumi-san said no on that."

"Kannuki—" Terazuma said finally.

Wakaba didn't hear him at first. "But maybe we can get Hisoka—"

"_Kannuki_," he interrupted more forcefully.

Wakaba glanced at him over her shoulder. "What is it, Hajime-chan?"

Terazuma shuffled his feet slightly, looking embarrassed. Wakaba smiled a little at him. "If this is about White Day, then don't wo—"

"_Here_." Terazuma pulled a box out of his coat and shoved it into her hands. "I didn't buy wrapping paper, but there you go."

Wakaba looked down at the box and then looked at him. "What's this?"

"Just open it and see."

"O-Okay…" Wakaba pulled off the black lid and set it on the table. She looked inside. "Oh!!!"

They were bangles. Pair of bright white—were they platinum?—bangles with a line of white gemstones running across their middles. "Hajime-chan…you really got me a White Day gift!!!"

Terazuma shrugged as neutrally as he could. "Who else am I gonna—ACK!!!"

Wakaba tackled him to the ground with a huge glomp. "Thank you soooooooooooo much!!!"

"W-Watch it!!! I might transform!!!"

---

"…Were you really upset by what Watari-san did?" asked Saya slowly.

Yuma 'huffed' and plucked at the skirt of their unused White Day dress. At least there was next year… "I dunno. I'm upset by a lot of things today…"

"Hmm…" Saya thought about it before she spoke. "You know, we haven't given our White Day gifts to each other, have we?"

"No, we haven't!!" Yuma suddenly brightened up. Saya took this as her cue and got out a large box in Pink House brand wrapping paper. The moment she lifted her head she saw Yuma putting a similarly large box wrapped in Pink House wrapping paper on the table.

Despite the awkwardness between them, the two exchanged smiles as they exchanged presents. Both carefully pulled away the wrapping paper to reveal very adorable Pink House dresses.

"WAIII!!!!" both jumped at each other and hugged. "Thank you sooooooooo much!!!" in the heat of the moment, they kissed briefly. They pulled away and stared at each other for a long moment.

Then, they both burst out laughing.

---

"C'mon, it wasn't so bad," said the older Gushoushin gently, patting his little brother on the shoulder. "You weren't the only one…and at least Kachou-san knows now!!!"

"And he rejected me!!!" the younger Gushoushin grumbled darkly.

"Well, don't worry!! There's plenty of people out there who—"

"Who, Aniki?! We're Gushoushin, or _chickens _as those assholes call us!!! Who'd want to fall in love with either of us?!"

The elder Gushoushin laughed feebly. "Well…"

---

"Isn't this enough?!" wailed Watari, scrubbing the tears off his cheeks.

"Hardly," snapped Tatsumi. 003 flapped around his head and hooted angrily, but Tatsumi only paid attention to Watari. "For the hell you put Kurosaki-kun and all of Meifu through, it's not even close."

"B-B-But I honestly wanted to help Bon!!! Tsuzuki and him deserve to be together, and—"

"That's no excuse. Continue."

Watari choked on a sob. "You're evil…" He uncorked the top of the test tube full of an infant potion and he poured it down the drain. Empty beakers and test tubes littered the counter and there was many more to dump out. "This is the worst White Day ever!!!!"

_May 5__th__, 10:17 a.m._

They were late for work; that was obvious. But Hisoka knew it was entirely Tsuzuki's fault, even as the older Shinigami walked alongside him with a big smile on his face. "Why is it so hard for you to get your ass out of bed every morning?"

Tsuzuki still smiled happily. "Why is it so hard for you to come and live with me, 'Soka-chan?"

"I see enough of you every single day at work and on the job. If I'm with you every waking moment, then I'll be driven insane."

"'Soka-chan's so mean…" but Tsuzuki was still smiling as they entered JuOhCho. In the time that they've been…together, Tsuzuki had thankfully been discreet about their relationship. Even so, Hisoka knew that everybody in their department knew about how "close" they were. But outside of a few disgusted looks from Terazuma and sympathetic looks from the Gushoushin (no doubt questioning how someone as smart as Hisoka could be taken with a slob like Tsuzuki), nobody said much about it. The most telling response they'd received was from Tatsumi, who gave them a very surprising but knowing smile.

Watari might've been pleased about it, but the scientist didn't have much to be pleased about lately (much to Hisoka's great satisfaction).

They reached the door to the Shokan Department. Tsuzuki grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. But before he opened the door, he leaned back and gave Hisoka a quick peck on the cheek. "Here's to a hopefully slow day!!"

"B-Baka!!" Hisoka cried, turning bright red. "Today's no different than any other day!!"

Tsuzuki hummed to himself and opened the door.

_Wait, is today suppose to mean something? _Hisoka wondered to himself. He'd faced no further holiday or tape mishaps since White Day.

As he followed Tsuzuki into the office, though, he got his answer.

"WAIIII!!!!!" the sound of party poppers exploded in his ears and his vision filled with confetti as the girls descended upon them. Hisoka then spied the huge banner at the back of the office before he was smothered. "Happy Children's Day!!!"

Hisoka quickly felt too tired to fight them off, and Tsuzuki was too busy grabbing poppers to help him. "Aw, shit…"

He'd never celebrated Children's Day, but he probably should've expected this. It was certainly pleasant to think that White Day would be the end of it. No…for as long as he lived as a Shinigami, he'd have this insanity to face. Forever.

"All right, let's have a party!!!" Tsuzuki cheered, firing a popper right into Terazuma's ear.

Hisoka sighed heavily. Tsuzuki would definitely be around to make his afterlife eternally annoying. But he didn't mind…not too much.

"Lookie, Hisoka-chan!!!!" cried Yuma and Saya, shoving a baby pink dress under his nose. "The Children's Day special from Pink House!!!"

Yes, he'd never be bored…or left alone again.

---

Watari sniffed to himself as he fawned over his latest rejected financial proposal. He glanced at 003 at the end of his desk, who stared back at him with great sympathy. "This is only temporary. In twenty or thirty years, I'll surely be able to escape from under Tatsumi's radar and wreck havoc again.

"But all is not lost, though. Tsuzuki and Bon are finally together and will surely be together for a long time. Hmm…and I plan to cause them a _lot _of trouble!! Oh, will it be fun!!!" Watari started laughingly maniacally, throwing back his head and letting his laughter echo throughout the lab.

003 simply hooted.

---

Thank you for sticking with this arc through these painful five years. I'm sincerely sorry and I hope that these past updates have helped make up for the long absence. Here are some reference notes, as found on Wikipedia:

1. National Foundation Day, or _Kenkoku Kinen no Hi_, is sort of like Japan's Independence Day in honor of the supposed first day of rule of Jimmu, Japan's first emperor, on February 11, 660 B.C..

2. Children's Day, or _Kodomo no Hi_, is a children's celebration day in Japan as its name suggests, celebrated during Japan's Golden Week.

Also, the drabble by the 'Pitcher and Catcher' tape on Japanese relationships is based on an actual study I read that I've unfortunately lost. I sort of paraphrased a lot of key ideas, lol.

One last note, Tsuzuki's birthday is February 25th.

Happy White Day and thanks again!!!!


End file.
